Midterms and Matt!

The past week has been eventful. I've had midterms (so early in the semester!), but what was more exciting was that Matt flew into town on Thursday. It's been a wonderful trip so far, and I feel very fortunate that he's able to be here for so long. Here's a rundown of our (mostly food) adventures so far.

Friday:
• Ate lunch at one of the best deals in town, La Finca de Susana (which Susannah and I will have to eat at, obvi) then wandered around the touristy neighborhoods on foot for hours before filling up on pastries at the Madrid institution that is La Mallorquina and tapas where Matt tried his first Spanish chorizo.Saturday:
• Rented bikes and rode around El Retiro and La Elipa, a park to the east of my piso.
• Snacked at not one but two pastry shops in my neighborhood before going out for lunch to try huevos rotos, which is essentially 5 thousand fried eggs and sausage mixed up with some french fries.
• Watched Real Madrid KILL Racing Santander. Even from the nose-bleed section, Cristiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas are cute as buttons (oh, and they're pretty good at fútbol too, I guess). We were surrounded by Santander fans with colorful language, and Matt was able to make out some of the vocab Claudia has taught him. ("Puta! I know that one!")
Sunday:
• Met up with Megan at El Rastro.
• Ate lunch at this ridiculously awesome Galician seafood restaurant. That's right, folks. Christina wrote "awesome" and "seafood" in the same sentence. Look Ma and Pa! I'm eating octopus!
• For dinner, we joined Kate at Mercado de San Miguel, which is Madrid's closest equivalent to the Ferry Building. Using Matt as an excuse, we felt that a school night was a perfect time to drink cava, vermouth, red wine, and sherry while munching on all kinds of delightful finger foods.

Monday:
• I went to class while Matt checked out the Guernica then we went out to dinner at Casa Mingo, which is like Wright's Chicken Farm except better.
I will most definitely have developed michelinas by the time Matt leaves, but it'll be totally worth it. This Thursday we head to La Rioja for the long weekend where we will, surprise surprise, drink wine and eat ourselves silly. Can't wait!